


Face first

by zakari_little_lion



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zakari_little_lion/pseuds/zakari_little_lion
Summary: Single mom Amelia and newly single Arizona bump into each other. Quite literally. Pre-relationship.
Relationships: Arizona Robbins/Amelia Shepherd
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Face first

Sun.

Actual sun.

Sure, it was Seattle so the air was far from the hot and warm one Santa Monica had to offer but it was the first truly sunny day since Amelia had moved here almost a week ago so she wasn’t about to complain.

She had woken up later than usual this morning, seizing the opportunity that Christopher was at his Auntie Addison’s to enjoy a late morning in. When the alarm had rung, she had quickly hit snooze before turning around and wrapping herself right back up into her warm sheets. Eventually, she had gotten up around nine thirty, well-rested and ready to tackle the day ahead. A breakfast in and two episodes of Ninja Turtles later, the neurosurgeon sat criss-cross on the floor of Christopher’s new bedroom to be, emptying her son’s last cardboard box.

There were still a few cardboards littering the house here and there but Amelia was determined for Christopher’s room to be done before his arrival in three days time. The box in front of her was only containing clothes but lying on top of them was a small monkey stuffie. Big and comically large eyes stared at her, its lopsided grin and its eccentric green fur caused her to smile. It used to be Christopher’s favorite until Uncle Pete had offered him a unicorn stuffie on his birthday last year and since then, Monkey had been reduced to ordinary-yet-still-slightly-special-stuffie. She couldn’t help but bring it to her nose. She breathed it in deeply, her eyes shut close as she relished the smell. It smelled exactly like her son; of dreams, of cheerfulness and of wildflowers. Her fingers brushed the soft green hair back and forth and it tickled the pad of her fingers. Amelia sighed contentedly. Once the carefully folded clothes were all put away into the chest of drawers, she decided to tidy the stuffie up in her own bed instead of living it all alone in her son’s room. She could use a little pick-me-up.

The neurosurgeon couldn’t remember the last time she had gone this long without her son by her side and even though she knew Addie and Pete were taking very good care of him and that Christopher was having the time of his life, she was missing him like crazy. The mother inside her was yearning for the small weight sleeping on top of her chest during the evenings, for his rumbles about whatever crazy adventures he had had that day and last but not least, she was longing for his bright and hopeful eyes, the dash of bright blue illuminating them without the shadow of a doubt a souvenir from his father.

Trying her best to distract her brain from her son, she chose to keep on exploring the neighborhood. She hadn’t checked out the park near her house yet so she took her sneakers and training outfit out and headed out there for a jog. Moreover, only God knew how much longer this good weather was going to last so she oughted to make the most out of it.

The park had beautiful greenery: flowers were budding, tall and strong trees were shadowing the various paths, a handful of kids and their parents were feeding ducks by a small pond, there was a big area of nothing but grass where plenty of people were doing all kind of different things; sports, reading, sleeping... Afar, she could even make out swing sets and, Chris’ favorites, slides.

Out of the corner of her eye, a group of people caught her attention and her feet spontaneously slowed down their rhythm. A blonde woman was playing soccer with a brown-haired little girl that couldn’t be much older than Christopher. The kiddo was dressed in a real soccer outfit and she was running all over the place, her braids flying wildly behind her as she did so, while the adult was trying to steal the ball from her. Amelia could tell she was playing badly on purpose in order to let the kid win.

If she was honest, what really caught her eyes was their cheerfulness. Even from afar, she could hear them chuckling loudly and gently teasing each other. Her eyes lingered as she kept on jogging and they focused onto the blonde woman. Damn, was she attractive. Her mid-thigh shorts showed off strong leg muscles. Her face, even though reddened and sweaty from chasing the little one around, definitely looked pretty. Especially her smile. That smile was a winner.

Amelia pondered if she was a babysitter or an auntie or a mother since the woman and the child didn’t exactly look alike but they did seem to be tight, if the secret handshake they had shared a few moments ago was anything to go by.

As she ran closer and closer to them, she could eventually distinguish what they were saying.

“And Lavelle steals the ball right from her opponent’s feet. And she’s making a run for it but Robbins hasn’t said her last word yet!” the blonde woman commentated lively as the quick brunette took the ball from her and started running away towards their play-pretend goal at full speed.

The blonde slow-ran behind her, letting her get away easily but once she got close to the goal, the woman sped up and got in front of her to block the potential penalty. Being close enough to the goal and seeing the adult rushing towards her, the little girl decided to just go for it and hit the ball with all her might.

“OH, YOU’RE NOT SCORING MISS!” the blonde yelled as she leaped into the air.

“MOMMY! CAREFUL!”

Everything next happened in slow motion and there was absolutely nothing either of them could have done to stop it. One moment, the neurosurgeon was looking at the blonde jumping high in the air to stop the ball and the next, her body was flying towards hers at great speed. Amelia’s fight or flight response did _not_ kick in. At all. Instead, she stood still, frozen on the spot as her eyes rigorously followed the blonde’s trajectory and her feet sank deeper into the ground. The woman crashed into her rather forcefully and both women yelped loudly.

Amelia’s first reflex, she was surprised to have any to be honest, was to wrap her arms around the blonde to shield her from their imminent impact with the ground. In one weird move that would undeniably make chiropractors all over the globe wince, she twisted them so that the stranger would land on top on her instead of hitting the ground alongside her. Amelia’s right hip and butt were the first things to collide and then her right shoulder. At the same time, the blonde’s head crashed into her collarbone and a knee painfully bumped into her thigh.

A loud unnatural sound joined their screams as they fell down into one big pile of tangled limbs.

“Ow!”

“Ouch, fuck!”

“MOMMY!” the little girl rushed toward them as fast as her legs would carry her. When she arrived, she gasped loudly and her dark brown eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Her eyebrows rose so high they almost blended into her hairline and her hands came in front of her perfectly O shaped mouth. She looked utterly shocked. “Dios mio!”

Her stupor scared Amelia even more than she already was. Her heart skipped a bit in fear, maybe two. She let go of the blonde’s body and rose up onto her elbows to get a better look at the woman lying on top of her, trying to gauge her injuries but her angle wasn’t the best. She looked around, searching for blood or an unnaturally bent limb.

“Are you okay? Did you break anything? Any pain?” she asked in one breath, worry evident in her voice.

“I-uh…” the blonde pushed onto her arms to detangle herself and sat up onto her butt. She glanced down at herself, assessing for any injuries. “Oh man, my leg’s broken,” she whined with her nose scrunched up.

If Amelia was scared before, she was absolutely shitting herself right now. She was pretty sure of it, it was what having a heart attack felt like. She hadn’t been this scared since Christopher had choked on a marble. She felt her blood ran cold all of a sudden, her legs and arms suddenly prickled and she silently thanked her medical training for kicking in before she could get light-headed or nauseous. Just because she liked standing into ORs and stare at a patient’s brain for hours on end did not meant she was okay with dealing with a stranger’s damaged leg before noon on a Saturday.

“OH MY GOD! WHAT? ARE Y-” she sat up in a frantic and her breath caught in the back of her throat when she saw the blonde lift up a broken prosthetic leg in front of her face to inspect it closer.

“It’s okay, I’m alright. It’s just my prosthetic,” the blonde explained, her features a weird mix between saddened and annoyed.

Amelia let out a breath of relief, her heart started beating again and warm blood rushed back to her limbs. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this relieved. In insight, it was probably when Christopher had finally coughed up that damn marble after she had given him the Heimlich maneuver.

“What about you? Are you okay?” the blonde furrowed her eyebrows and inspected the brunette.

Amelia looked down at herself. A scrape on her left knee, some dirt here and there… Apart from feeling very perturbed, she was physically alright. “I-uh, yeah. Probably gonna have one giant nasty bruise on my right butt cheek for the next few weeks but I’m okay.”

The little brunette knelt next to her mother and cautiously took her face in her hands, tilted it back and forth and pushed blonde hair around.

“You’re bleeding,” she said calmly with a frown.

“Fuck, did you bang your head? Any dizziness? Seeing any weird things? Grey spots maybe?” The doctor inside Amelia took over and she moved to kneel next to the little girl so she could take a look at the wound.

It was relatively small, two inches at the most, just by the hairline. It had already stopped bleeding but the edges definitely looked like they could use a few stitches and mainly, a clean-up.

“No, I’m fine. I’m fine,” she winced as her fingers wandered towards her temple.

“Don’t touch it!” Amelia stopped the blonde mid-way. “We should get you to a hospital. It’s not actively bleeding anymore but it could truly use a stitch or two or else you’re gonna get a nasty scar. Plus, we should make sure you don’t have a concussion or something.”

“I’m fine.”

“Mommy, your head is bleeding and your leg is broken. You’re obviously not fine,” Sofia scolded her mother with her hands on her hips, a purposeful look adorning her face.

The neurosurgeon was surprised by the girl’s attitude but she wasn’t about to contradict her. She was right after all. She wasn’t expecting that level of seriousness from a kid, she was glad to have her by her side.

“I’ll call 911 so they can get you to the closest hospital.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “You’re not calling 911. I told you, I’m FINE!” her voice was a few octaves higher on the last word to accentuate her point.

Was that woman stubborn, Amelia thought. Attractive, but oh so stubborn.

“I’ll take you to the hospital then,” Amelia said as she got up. “That’s the least I can do after…” she motioned to the bloody-haired blonde and the broken prosthetic in between her hands. “This.”

The blonde looked up from where she was still sitting on the ground, raising both eyebrows at her as if to say “really?”.

“Come on, mommy. How exactly are we going to get there if you only have one leg? Jump all the way there? We walked here. I know I’m a big girl, but I’m not big enough yet to carry you there.”

“I like this kid,” Amelia pointed towards the small brunette with her thumb.

“We’ll just hail for a cab.”

“We don’t have any money,” Sofia pointed out.

“I’d offer to pay for the ride but I live nearby, I came on foot and I don’t have any money on me,” Amelia smiled apologetically to the other woman.

“Fine, you win,” she conceded after letting out the biggest sigh of resignation Amelia had ever heard, and she had a seven years old so that was saying something.

The blonde extended a hand upwards, indicating that she needed help to stand up. Amelia grabbed it and pulled her up. What the neurosurgeon hadn’t anticipated was the adrenaline from her scare only a few moments ago still cursing through her veins which made her much stronger than usual. Amelia’s powerful grip mixed with the other woman’s lack of prosthetic had the blonde falling forwards once she was up on her foot.

For the second time in barely five minutes, Amelia caught the blonde before she could hurt herself any further and face-plant right in front of her daughter. She grabbed her shoulders tightly and the blonde’s grasped Amelia’s upper arms as she cried. The brunette gently pushed her backwards until she was stable.

“There we go,” Amelia said.

Now face to face, she quickly bored her eyes into the other woman’s in order to check for any irregularities. If Amelia’s eyes lingered a little too long, it certainly wasn’t because she was taken aback by their warmth or their Mediterranean sea blue-like color, no. Not at all. Neither was it the reason she felt her stomach do summersaults. No. It was just the adrenaline rush finally coming down. After a rapid inner battle and before it could get awkward, the neurosurgeon adverted her eyes and kept one hand onto the blonde, firmly holding her left shoulder.

“Come on, we better get going.”

“Yeah. Trouble generally comes in threes and I’d rather my daughter not be here when the third one comes around,” the blonde said drily.

Embarrassment washed over her and left her feeling uneasy in the pit of her stomach. Amelia wished the ground beneath her would just swallow her whole right there and then. “I really am sorry. About the whole thing. I’m Amelia by the way.”

The brunette released her hold onto the woman to extend her hand and introduce herself. Being caught off-guard of being let go of, the blonde lost balance and began to topple forwards. Thankfully, the brunette caught her in time by the shoulders and helped her up right back up.

“Shit, sorry. Are you okay? What the fuck is wrong with me today?” Amelia muttered the last part under her breath. “Dumbass!”

The high-pitched giggles erupting next to her abruptly reminded of the kid’s presence. Her eyes widened as she registered what she had just said out loud and she mentally self palmed. The ground couldn’t swallow her whole soon enough. Ashamed, guilty, embarrassed… Amelia was experiencing so many feelings all at once, she had trouble identifying them all. All she knew was that she felt really _bad_. How could have she forgotten about the kid? Such a young and sweet impressionable little girl and here Amelia was, cursing like a sailor in all her glory. That was it. First, she broke her leg, then she almost let her fall and now she was cursing. The blonde was probably going to kill her. Maybe if she was lucky enough, the blonde would let her say her last goodbye to her son before.

“And now I’m cursing in front of your kid, perfect! Just perfect! This day keeps on getting better and better!” she moved her hand around wildly and let out an over-exasperated sigh.

What the neurosurgeon wouldn’t give to be anywhere but here. The more she was trying, the worst she was making the situation. Maybe it wasn’t too late to cancel her plans and move back to Santa Monica after all?

The blonde laughed out loud and had Amelia not be so wrapped up in her pity self-talk, she would’ve noticed the comforting squeeze the other woman gave her upper arm and her reassuring smile. “See, told you I’d rather not my daughter be here for the third one,” she teased gently with a giggle.

Amelia chuckled alongside her, a bit buoyed but still feeling mostly abashed at the comment. At least, the blonde wasn’t mad at her which meant today probably wasn’t Amelia’s last day on Earth.

“Relax, it’s fine. Truly. This isn’t the first curse word she has ever heard. She knows when she’s allowed to use them and more importantly when she’s not to, right Sof?”

“If I’m home and I don’t have any friends over, then I’m allowed to curse,” the little girl affirmed with a nod.

The brunette sighed again, in relief this time. At least, she hadn’t been saying anything the girl hadn’t heard or said before. It strangely made her feel a little bit better and she could breathe a little bit easier now. The blonde winked knowingly at the child and focused her attention back onto the neurosurgeon.

“I’m Arizona and this is Sofia. Nice to meet you, Amelia.”

“Hi,” the little girl said.

“Though I wish it were under different circumstances,” the blonde added lightheartedly.

“I really am deeply sorry.”

“It’s okay. Sofia is in one piece and it will make for one hell of a story to tell my colleagues tomorrow,” Arizona giggled and the brunette joined her wholeheartedly.

“It will indeed.”

“Come on, let’s get this show on the road before it escalates.”

Since Amelia was the one who was obviously going to be helping Arizona, Sofia volunteered to carry her mother’s prosthetic.

“So, uh, how do you wanna do this?” Amelia asked awkwardly, looking back and forth in between their bodies. “Should I carry you or-“

“How about you wrap an arm around my waist and I wrap mine around your shoulders? That way I’m just leaning onto you so you don’t have to do all the work and I also can help by jumping.”

“Okay, let’s give it a try. I’m sorry, I’m really sweaty,” Amelia smiled apologetically as she delicately placed her right arm around Arizona’s waist.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not exactly at my driest either so I guess we’re even.”

Even though they were both sweaty from their work out, due to their proximity, Arizona’s shampoo tingled Amelia’s nose. It smelled like raspberry, honey and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on but resembled coffee. Sweet, just like Arizona once she had gotten past her initial stubbornness.

“Amelia?”

“Uh?” the brunette said as she was pulled out of her reverie.

“I asked if you were ready to go?”

“Sorry, I was distracted. Sure, let’s go.”

“You sure you didn’t hit your head?”

The baby blues eyes staring at Amelia filled with nothing but concern and worry were definitely not helping with her distractibility. In a blink of an eye, they lowered to her lips and travelled right back up. It occurred so quickly, Amelia wasn’t sure it had even happened. Maybe she did hit her head. She cleared her throat in order to get a hold of herself and stood up a little straighter.

“I’m positive.”

“We should follow Sofia, that way she’s walking in front of us. We can keep an eye on her. Plus, she knows the way to Grey-Sloan Memorial hospital.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow at her, visibly surprised that a child would know the way to a hospital by heart.

“I work there,” Arizona provided in lieu of an explanation. “Come on.”

And it worked. For about seven entire minutes, it worked. Then Arizona’s right leg started to burn, especially her thigh. At first, it wasn’t that bad and pretty easy to ignore but eventually it felt almost as painful as her first few days of physiotherapy, when she had just lost her other leg and her muscles hadn’t yet adapted to the new workload. Arizona’s face must have betrayed her at some point because Amelia kept on asking if she was fine every few steps. She insisted they carried on going, that she didn’t need to stop and that the fastest they would get to the hospital, the fastest she would be able to rest. That was until her right leg almost gave out under her after jumping around for ten minutes straight.

“Okay, stop. Time out. You’re going to fall if we don’t stop. Let’s get to this bench,” Amelia pointed to a small wooden bench only a few feet away.

“I’m fin-“

“Humor me and sit down for a few minutes, will you?” Amelia said, as annoyed as entertained by Arizona’s impossible attitude.

She tightened her hold onto her waist and pulled Arizona more into her so she wouldn’t be making as much effort.

“You okay, mommy?” Sofia asked with a concern look.

“Yeah, my leg is just tired, baby. That’s all.”

Amelia carefully lowered her onto the bench and Arizona sighed in relief as her muscles relaxed. Her right leg was without a doubt going to make her pay her stubbornness tomorrow. No matter how hard she was going to massage it tonight, she already knew it would be sore as hell. She was very thankful for the pause, she was pretty sure she would have just collapsed in a couple of minutes otherwise. Not that she was going to tell that to the brunette.

“You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, I just need a few,” Arizona replied with a fake and tight smile, not wanting the stranger to know how much she was actually hurting. It was already hard enough to accept Amelia’s help, never mind letting her see her hurting. There was only so much exposed weakness Arizona could handle at the same time. Strength restored and breathing even, she stood up, a hand onto the back of the bench to steady herself. “Let’s go.”

“Should I pick you up bridal style?”

“What?” Arizona frowned and looked at Amelia like she had just grown a second head.

“It would allow your leg to rest,” Amelia shrugged. “Unless you’d prefer a piggy back ride? I’m good with that too.”

“Absolutely not! We can carry on just like we were.”

“Mommy, at this rate, we’ll reach the hospital in time for _Christmas_ ,” Sofia pointed out to her mother.

Amelia liked this kid more and more. After a few minutes of heated debate, Arizona found herself piggy back ridding Amelia, her arms securely wrapped her shoulders.

“You’re stubborn, anyone ever told you that?” Amelia asked with a chuckle.

“Aunt April does it all the time!”

“I think I’m going to have a little chat with Aunt April next time I see her,” Arizona said purposefully. “And I’m not stubborn, I’m determined.”

That earned her a giggle from both, her daughter and Amelia.

“She’s always like this, kid?”

“Yep,” Sofia replied proudly. “Aunt April says it’s part of her charm, whatever that means.”

Amelia heard the other woman huff and she swallowed back the laugh that was threatening to get out. Oh, Aunt April was in for an earful next time her path would cross the blonde’s, Amelia was sure of it.

“My prosthetic may be broken, but my ears work just fine young lady!”

They kept on walking, making small talk as they went. They got quite a few weird looks and inquisitive stares from people surrounding them. The brunette could only imagine how crazy they must look. A little girl carrying a broken prosthetic and an adult carrying another bloody-haired adult onto her back. Addison and Pete were going to laugh their asses off when Amelia would tell them about this tonight.

They eventually arrived at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital and Amelia was very grateful. She was never one to complain about carrying a pretty lady in her arms, but they were starting to silently kill her.

“Daycare’s on the left,” Arizona said as they approached the building.

“The emergency room might be a more appropriate place to get you checked out.”

“I’m not getting stitched up in front of my child. Daycare first, emergency room second. Plus, God knows what kind of people are waiting in there. I don’t want her to see a real broken leg.”

Amelia wanted to insist but had it been her and Christopher in such a situation, she wouldn’t want him here either. Still, she couldn’t help but think “stubborn” and smiled goofily at herself, thankful that the blonde couldn’t her face right now. As much as the woman so-called-determination bothered her, Amelia found it quite endearing.

“But I wan-“

“Not buts. This is where I draw the line. You saw enough blood for today.”

Sofia huffed, visibly not satisfied with the anwser. “Fiiiiiiiine.”

The neurosurgeon stifled a laugh. Like mother, like daughter, apparently.

* * *

“You know what’s funny? I actually start working here next week,” Amelia said as she looked around, wide eyed, taking the hospital in.

She had come in a few days ago to meet up with Doctor Miranda Bailey. After an informal chat in her office, the chief of surgery had been kind enough to show her around, pointing out the important places such as the ORS, the cafeteria, the attending lounge or her new office. So it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before but it was so different from Saint Ambrose hospital, Amelia was still amazed by the size and the inner infrastructure.

Arizona was lying onto an emergency bed and the brunette was sitting to her left on a swivel stool. Doctor Pahlavi had come by, offering to stitch Arizona’s wound but the blonde had gently let her down and informed her she would just wait around for Avery to be available.

The neurosurgeon was pretty much sporting the same look as a child discovering presents under the tree on Christmas morning; mesmerized and fascinated. Arizona may be in pain but she couldn’t be noticed how cute she looked.

“Really? What it is that you do?”

“Doctor Amelia Sheperd. New head of neurosurgery,” she extended her hand for the second time today with a warm smile.

This time, the blonde happily shook it.

“Sheperd as in-“

“Yeah, yeah,” Amelia waved dismissively. “Derek Sheperd, neuro God. Yes, I do know him. He’s my brother.”

“No, no. I mean, yes, I’ve heard about him but I was referring to that article on newborns with glioblastoma I read a few months ago. A. Sheperd. That’s you, right?”

“I- uh, yes,” Amelia said, all but taken aback. Blush rushed to her cheeks and she raised her hand to push back a lock of hair behind her ear only to remember mid-motion that her hair was tied in a ponytail so she rubbed the back of her neck instead.

“Nice to officially meet you, Doctor Sheperd. Doctor Arizona Robbins, head of pediatric and fetal surgery. That article was mind-blowing! We actually altered our SOP along with the treatments for babies under 20 weeks old after reading it and looking into it. I have a case I’d love to show you.”

Arizona elaborated a little Tracy’s case, looping Amelia in the details and telling her where they were struggling exactly. Arizona’s whole face lighted up as she talked about the case. Her hands were moving around wildly, her voice was the most joyful yet serious Amelia had heard it in the whole hour they known each other and her smile… Don’t even get Amelia started on that smile.

“Sorry, you just got here and I’m already nerding out. I should at least wait until you actually start working,” she said shyly.

“It’s okay, I really don’t mind. It’s nice to meet a passionate fellow. I’ll happily give it a look,” Amelia smiled reassuringly.

“Thank you. I would mean a lot to Tracy’s parents and me. She’s such a happy baby. Swear she’s one of my most talkative patients and the only syllable she can articulate is ba.”

Amelia chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

“I do hope you’re more meticulous in the OR than when you’re jogging though otherwise the number of adverse events is about to sky-rocket.”

This time, Amelia swore she had seen her glancing down at her lips and her heart beat a tad harder inside her chest. Maybe it was time to find out if there was more to it.

“In my defense, there are very rarely cute blonde running around and playing soccer in my OR,” Amelia teased flirtatiously.

The flirting was very unexpected and Arizona felt a little dumbfounded all of a sudden. Blush crept up her cheeks and a dorky smile materialized onto her face.

“You’re a terrible flirt,” she said with a roll of eyes, trying to downplay it.

It had been a while since anyone had hit on her, never mind someone she found attractive so she was a little thrown off her game.

“Made you blush so I guess I’m not _that_ terrible,” the other woman winked proudly.

Okay, now the pediatric surgeon was annoyed again, but… in a good way? This Amelia was getting under her skin and she wasn’t sure if she was complaining or not yet. “Are you always this messy and this smug?” Arizona raised an eyebrow.

“Are you always this stubborn?” Amelia asked back sassily. That earned her another eye roll from the blonde.

“I’m not stubborn _._ I’m de _-“_

“You’re determined, yeah, yeah. Same difference to me. And to answer your question, well believe it or not, I’m actually a huge mess.”

“You don’t say,” Arizona gave the brunette a pointed look as she pointed to her wound.

Amelia decided to ignore the comment and kept on. “I also happen to have no filter whatsoever so I see an attractive person and my mouth babbles off before my brain can stop it.”

“Yeah, kind of noticed the rambling,” Arizona giggled. “What makes you think I’m interested?”

“First of all, you didn’t make any comment when I said I thought you were attractive and secondly, your eyes, which are truly mesmerizing by the way, keep lowering to my lips, so there’s that. Want to go on a date with me?”

Arizona pursed her lips, quietly weighting the pros and cons. Amelia was quirky and funny and at least as headstrong as her since she was putting up with her. Not to mention, incredibly attractive and charmingly clumsy. Eventually, she settled on a small caution, “I’m not looking for anything casual.”

“Who said I was?” the brunette asked back with a raised eyebrow.

“I have a child.”

Amelia laughed out loud. ”Yeah, I had kinda gathered the kid screaming mommy earlier belonged to you. She’s a cool squirt. Cute braids by the way. You should teach me how to do that one day, Chris is always asking for more complicated hairdos but I’m a very mediocre hairdresser at best. So, you, me, date? I promise I’m usually much more interesting and much less sweaty.”

“Chris?”

Amelia smiled proudly and her face beamed with cheerfulness. “My son, Christopher. He’s seven years old, about yeah big,” she motioned next to her upper arm. “Loves spinach, a smile to die for, and still believes in the tooth fairy. So, about that date?”

“Look who’s being stubborn now?” Arizona teased soflty.

“I’m not being stubborn, I’m waiting for answer. Also, you just admitted to being stubborn. Will you stop dodging and answer me, Arizona? You can totally say no, I won’t hold it against you. It’s alright if you don’t feel the same way. It doesn’t have to be romantic date either if you don’t want to, it can be a friendly date.”

“Anyone ever told you you’re a lot?” Arizona asked back, an entertained smile on her lips.

“Of course, didn’t you hear the part about me being a huge mess?” she said with a glint of mischief in her eyes and a smirk.

“I don’t even know you.”

“We don’t know anything about each other which is exactly why I would like to take you out.”

Arizona chuckled. “Fair point.”

“I’ll even wear some nicer clothes than this.”

“I don’t know, I’m kind of digging this look,” Arizona said and eyed the brunette up and down, all subtlety flying out of the window.

”Yeah? ‘Cause I can definitely wear that if you want to. Less work for me,” Amelia kidded. “Don’t get the wrong idea though, I’m not that sporty. I rarely ever jog since I’ve been knocked over by a car few years ago.”

“What?”

Amelia waved it off like it was nothing. “It wasn’t that bad. Only had a few scratches, a sprain ankle and a broken humerus. Actually, I broke my arm standing up and putting on weight onto my sprained ankle. Was so painful I fell down. That hardest part was to not be able to operate for six weeks.”

“You truly are a mess,” Arizona chucked. “Don’t worry, you can wear whatever you wish. It has more to do with the woman wearing the clothes than the clothes themselves anyway.”

“Good thing that the said-woman just asked you out then, uh?” Amelia replied smugly.

“God, you’re like a dog with a bone. Fine, I’ll go on a date with you,” Arizona tried to sound exasperated but her features were screaming cheerful.

“Awesome,” the neurosurgeon smiled brightly.

“You know how they say “it’s going to cost an arm and a leg?”. This date is quite literally going to cost you a leg.”

Amelia chuckled nervously, still feeling a little awkward about the whole event. “I’m really sorry about that.”

“I got a date with a cute neurosurgeon out of it, so it’s fine,” Arizona said and she mentally high-fived herself. Finally, her flirtatious side was back.

They kept on looking at each other for a while, completely oblivious of what was going on around them. Someone from the nursing staff rushing by and bumping into the far end of the bed brought them back to reality. Amelia cleared her throat to diffuse the awkward lingering tension.

“Who’s that Doctor Avery we’re waiting for and why are they taking so long?”

“Avery’s the head of plastic surgery and he’s finishing up a rhinoplasty. Was it not my face, I wouldn’t be this picky about who stitches me up but I would rather not have a very apparent scar in the middle of it.”

“I get you. That is one very nice face, it would be a shame. I can stitch you up if you want.”

“I’d rather wait for Avery. No offence.”

Amelia held up her hands, as if to say she was innocent. “None taken. But see this hand?” she pointed to the back of her left hand. “Stitched myself up a few years ago.”

“I don’t see anything,” Arizona frowned and squinted her eyes, as if a scar would magically appear if she would focus hard enough.

“My point exactly.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that instead of having us sitting around waiting for twenty minutes?”

“Maybe I just wanted to chat with you,” Amelia shrugged and her smile widened when she saw the blonde blush.

“Whatever,” Arizona muttered under her breath and she contained her grin. “Sutures kits are in there and sterile gloves there. Can I ask how did you slit open your hand?”

“Oh, you know, cute jogger ran into my while I was playing soccer with my son,” Amelia said nonchalantly, a teasing smirk threatening to take over her lips.

“Very funny,” Arizona rolled her eyes. “Did you just call yourself cute?”

“You called me a cute neurosurgeon a few minutes ago,” Amelia pointed out as she took what she needed out of the metal drawers. “I tried to start a bar fight but I fell down from the counter with a drink in my hand. Split my hand open. Five stitches.”

Arizona raised both of her eyebrows, visibly surprised. “I- What? First, you get hit by a car, now you fall of a counter trying to start a bar fight. You either have a very lucky star somewhere or you have a death wish.”

* * *

“You would mind carrying me to my office please?”

“Can’t get enough of me?” Amelia kidded as she peeled of her gloves and threw them into the trash can.

Arizona rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless at the other woman’s cheekiness. It was slowly growing on her, against her will. She hated herself for it but she found it quite endearing. “My spare leg is in there, Casanova.”

“Oh, right. I suppose that it would be helpful to walk. You want a piggy back ride or are you good to jump again?”

“I’m good to jump.”

They resumed to their position from earlier today; Amelia’s arm wrapped around her waist and Arizona’s arm thrown over the brunette’s shoulders, leaning onto her. Arizona guided them through the hospital, making a bee-line straight from the emergency room to the nearest elevator and from the elevator to her office.

“Please take a seat,” Arizona motioned to the couch after she had put her spare leg on. She headed to her desk and started to rummage through the files there.

“I’m sweaty.”

“Please, this couch has seen way worse,” Arizona said without looking up.

Amelia suspiciously eyed the couch from the corner of her eye, now even more wary about sitting. “I’m even less sure I want to sit now.”

“Blood! Blood. I meant blood,” Arizona quickly added once she saw Amelia’s shocked face.

Amelia chuckled and gladly took a sit.

“There it is! Tracy’s file,” Arizona triumphantly held up the said file.

* * *

Years later, Sofia and Christopher still doubled over with laughter every time they recounted the tale of how their moms literally fell in love.


End file.
